Traditionally, brain teasers are thought of as puzzles to solve using logical thought processes in a sequential manner. Everyone who is faced with using the current data available in their organization can relate to this notion of a brain teaser. The brain teasers are based on real-world situations that are encountered by workers in manufacturing environments. The brain teaser has three parts: (1) the situation, (2) available data or other supporting information and (3) questions that various workers want answered for continual improvement. Recommended solutions follow in the next issue and on the Web at Quality Online (www.qualitymag.com). At the site, you can discuss the current brain teasers, as well as how its principles apply to everyday manufacturers. Use the skills that you have previously learned in Wheeler's Workshop to solve these problems.
Situation
Virginia is an engineer at a silicon wafer company whose products are used in the semiconductor industry. She is responsible for a process that deposits a layer of material on the wafers according to customer requirements, such as resistance or thickness. The customers' requirements vary greatly and target values for resistance can range from 1 to 100 with a tolerance of + or - 5% of the target.